Icers fall to Wildcats to tie weekend series 1-1

With its season on the line, a different Northern Michigan team showed up at Munn Ice Arena on Saturday night.

Playing with a sense of desperation, the Wildcats never trailed and walked away with a hard-fought 2-1 win.

The best-of-three CCHA Quarterfinal series is now tied 1-1. The deciding game three will be tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. at Munn.

“I thought they were better tonight than they were last night,” MSU head coach Rick Comley said. “And I didn’t think our top guys were as good as they were last night.”

After a scoreless first period, the Wildcats took a 1-0 lead early in the second stanza.

Mark Olver walked in over the blue line and fired a shot that beat junior Jeff Lerg over the left shoulder.

“I was a bit shocked it went in,” Northern Michigan head coach Walt Kyle said. “Lerg’s a great goaltender, so anytime pucks go in on him, you’re surprised.”

The Spartans tied the game late in the period on a power play goal by junior forward Tim Crowder, but couldn’t carry the momentum over to the next period.

Midway through the third period, Northern Michigan was able to capitalize on a turnover that eventually led to Ray Kaunisto banging home a rebound from in tight, giving the Wildcats a 2-1 lead.

It wasn’t long after that MSU went on a power play that would turn into a 31 second 5-on-3 advantage.

But, in the story of the game, the Wildcats were able to kill both penalties.

“That was a big moment,” Kyle said. “Our guys were tired and the guy we usually use on 5-on-3’s was in the box. I thought we did a great job.”

The Spartans went 1-for-9 on the power play.

“They killed penalties better, but we weren’t as sharp,” Comley said.

MSU was not without chances in the final 10 minutes. The best came on a shot from the point by senior defenseman Jeff Dunne that hit the inside base of the post and stayed out.

Comley was able to get Lerg to the bench with 1:15 to go, but MSU was unable to get anything going in the final moments.

“We weren’t sharp from the get-go,” junior forward Justin Abdelkader said. “I don’t think we had the same emotion as we did last night. We kinda came in and thought it would be easy and it wasn’t.”

After allowing five goals a night before, Northern Michigan goaltender Brian Stewart was stellar, making 41 saves, earning No. 1 star honors.

“I felt some of the bounces went my way,” Stewart said. “It didn’t feel like too much of a change for me. I was just seeing the puck real well and pushing toward my rebounds and when I had to make the second save, I did tonight.”

One of the biggest plays in the game came in the first period. It appeared Crowder had given the Spartans a 1-0 lead, after the puck went off him and into the net.

Referee Brian Aaron, who was on the opposite side of the ice, immediately waved off the goal, saying Crowder had kicked the puck into net.

“(Aaron) said his foot was moving toward the net,” Comley said.

Aaron didn’t review the play.

This sets up a game three with the winner earning a berth in the league semifinals at Joe Louis Arena.

“We just need to play better,” Comley said. “We held them to two and you should win if you hold a team to two. We just need our top guys to have a better, sharper game. They have better be ready for a tight, tough game because I think they’ll tighten even more.”